India A have neared 250-plus score after losing only three wickets on Day 1
India players have begun their preparations for the England Test series in an encouraging fashion as India ‘A’ looked set for a big total on the Day 1 of the first four-day match against England Lions in Canterbury on Friday.
Leading the charge was Vidarbha’s star batter Karun Nair, who made his comeback to the Indian team for the first time since 2017. In 2016, Nair became the only second Indian player after Virender Sehwag to score a triple hundred in Tests with an unbeaten 303 against England in Chennai.
It came full circle when he was selected for the India main squad for the England Test series beginning on June 20 in Leeds.
The preparatory tour, starting on the same day as the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, turned out to be fruitful for the visiting Indian side as they reached 259/3 soon after the Tea break.
After being put in to bat by Lions’ captain James Rew, India A batters excelled under overcast conditions despite losing captain Easwaran for a score of 8 and other opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for 24.
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The pair of Nair and Sarfaraz Khan added of 181 runs for the third wicket as India A got through two sessions unscathed. Sarfaraz closed in on his hundred but was dismissed by left-arm pacer Josh Hull after Tea.
Nair, who had previous experience of playing in the County Championship, was patient upfront but unleashed a flurry of gorgeous drives through the off-side whenever England bowlers strayed their lines.
A bit after Sarfaraz was dismissed, Nair got to his hundred in 155 balls. He eventually ended Day 1 unbeaten on 186 (246).
Nair, along with Mumbai all-rounder Shardul Thakur, made his comeback to international cricket, while the likes of Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh were the new faces in the Test set-up. The series will also be Shubman Gill’s first outing as the new Test captain after skipper Rohit Sharma retired from red-ball cricket recently.
The first match between England Lions and India A will end on June 1.
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